This Is The Astonishing Result Of Rubbing Banana Peel Under Swollen Eyes

People are seemingly muddled when it comes to the humble banana. For many, the edible fruit is a healthy option to include in their diets. But others have perhaps seen bananas cropping up on worst-food listicles around the web and are consequently on the fence about its nutritional benefits. And to add to any confusion, there’s the question of what to do with banana peel after you’ve eaten its flesh. Well, we’re here to clear this up once and for all. Suffice to say, you’ll never look at a banana skin in the same way again.

First off, let’s consider the cases for and against the fruit that’s scientifically known as the Musa. According to Harvard’s The Nutrition Source, the bad press for the banana possibly started over 100 years ago. In 1917, you see, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a paper that addressed contemporary gossip surrounding the yellow fruit.

The paper – entitled “The Banana Again” – said that any support for the fruit “invariably provokes protests from persons who maintain that the banana is a cause of indigestion and a treacherous dietary component.” Elsewhere, the author notes that there is “still current prejudice against the banana.” And, remember, this was a long time before the internet.

As you can probably imagine, it now only takes a Google search to uncover a wealth of unflattering facts about bananas. The fruit appear on Cheat Sheet’s “15 of the Worst Fruits and Vegetables You Can Eat” list, for instance. And they’re the subject of MSN’s “Why you should never eat bananas for breakfast” article and – although tongue-in-cheek – Cosmopolitan.com’s “20 legit reasons bananas are evil and should be stopped.”

So just what is people’s problem with bananas? Well, it seems to boil down to a couple of common complaints. The first is that the fruit is apparently not a good choice for those trying to lose weight. And nutritionist Lauren Slayton has claimed that this is because bananas are very starchy.

Another issue that people seem to have with bananas, meanwhile, is their sugar content. According to “celebrity nutritionist” Dr. Daryl Gioffre, a banana would make for a poor choice at breakfast time. “Bananas eaten alone aren’t the best option because they’re 25 percent sugar and moderately acidic,” he told Byrdie in 2019.

Gioffre elaborated, “They’ll give you a quick boost, but you’ll soon be tired and feeling hungry.” In fact, the nutritionist insisted that this is because bananas are “nature’s candy,” and consuming them by themselves will give you a sugar rush. Then, after the spike in blood sugar levels, you’ll be left with cravings for more food – and a backed-up digestive system.

Of course, these claims taken on their own do suggest that bananas perhaps aren’t all that good for you. But it’s important to note that neither of these nutritionists are actually suggesting that you avoid bananas altogether. In both cases, in fact, the diet experts state that the fruit can still be enjoyed in most diets.

For instance, Slayton told The Daily Meal website that bananas are not unhealthy – and only suggests that those trying to lose weight should avoid them. She said, “I tell clients if you’re running through an airport, don’t skip the banana and opt for the candy bar; it’s all relative.”

And remember that Gioffre said that eating a banana and nothing else for breakfast is a bad idea. In fact, the nutritionist states that the solution is simply to couple the banana with another healthy fat to avoid a spike in blood sugar. The doctor even includes recipes to this end in his diet books.

Mind you, The Nutrition Source actually claims that bananas could be up there with the healthiest of food choices. So let’s sort fact from fiction and discover the many benefits of scoffing bananas. After all, according to Harvard, the fruit could even have been the very first edible item to be described as a “superfood.”

Yet the term “superfood” apparently didn’t begin with food experts or even nutritionists. In fact, it came from World War I marketing pamphlets. These included the United Fruit Company’s Points About Bananas and The Food Value of the Banana. But the corporation was, of course, simply pushing its own product.

At the same time, though, the benefits of bananas were backed up by the scientific community. You see, the American Medical Association even came to the conclusion that the yellow fruit could help kids suffering with celiac disease. So the term “superfood” started to spread, and the popularity of the banana was sealed.

And even though we now know that bananas are not the cure for celiac disease, many of the health benefits put forward by the United Fruit Company did turn out to be correct. For instance, the fruit is a source of vitamins B6 and C, manganese, fiber, magnesium and potassium.

Now, these vitamins and minerals benefit the body in a number of ways. Take potassium, for example. A medium, ripe banana will provide about 450mg of the mineral. And potassium is essential for healthy hearts. After all, it aids in the fight against high blood pressure and helps muscles and organs work as they should.

Furthermore, bananas will also do a world of good for those suffering with upset stomachs. In fact, The Nutrition Source suggests that eating the yellow fruit following a bout of diarrhea could kick-start the healing process. This is because bananas can begin to restore your electrolyte levels. To add to that, The Nutrition Source appears to contradict Gioffre’s statements.

You see, the Harvard organization claims that the resistant starch in an unripe banana “does not cause sharp rises in blood sugar.” And The Nutrition Source even suggests that the starchy banana will encourage microbes to thrive in the digestive tract and ultimately help fight long-lasting ailments. But that’s not the only belief to be debunked.

No, The Nutrition Source also states that bananas have little sway when it comes to people putting on weight. By way of evidence, the site points to a wide-ranging 2015 study into the effects different veggies and fruits had on weight gain in Americans. The result? Perhaps surprisingly, bananas were proved to be less connected to piling on the pounds than other foods.

So if you suffer with type 2 diabetes or are just looking to avoid spikes in blood sugar, should you eat bananas or not? Well, The Nutrition Source states that diabetes sufferers are generally advised to steer clear of foods with a high glycemic index. And bananas actually have a low glycemic index score.

Yet while all this is well and good, you’re probably still wondering whether you should chuck the banana skin away – or find a more practical use for it. And, perhaps more importantly, do the various benefits of eating banana flesh apply to the skin too? Well, let’s find out.

The first thing to consider is, can you eat banana peel? The short answer is, yes. If done correctly, there is probably no harm in eating banana skins. And it could even be beneficial. After all, banana peel contains an additional helping of the vitamins and minerals that you’ll find in the fruit it protects.

But it’s important to note that bananas are often grown in environments where the use of pesticides or other pollutants is widespread. Therefore, banana skins could have been contaminated with chemicals that would be harmful to the body if consumed. Of course, there is a way to ward against this.

Yes, and it couldn’t be simpler: just give the fruit skin a good clean before putting it anywhere near your lips. But even taking into account scrubbing the peel perfectly clean, you still might not fancy tucking into it. After all, the skin is likely to be bitter, firm and generally unpleasant to eat. Yet there are ways around this, too.

Indeed, Today! suggests that whazzing the skin up in your favorite smoothie is one of the best recipes for enjoying it. But other methods include frying the peel or baking it until it comes to a more appetizing texture. You could also consider letting the banana ripen for longer so that the skin becomes sweeter tasting.

But what if you don’t want to eat the peel yet still can’t stand to see it go to waste? Well, fortunately, the internet is full of plenty of other helpful suggestions for uses for your banana skin. And if you decide to give them a go, you just might be surprised at their potential benefits.

For instance, you could use banana peel to help your skin. Yes, those who believe in the use of peel say that applying the item regularly to your face might just decrease the appearance of wrinkles. And using peel in this way could also apparently make your skin look brighter.

But that’s not all. There are, for instance, numerous hacks purporting to get rid of puffy eyes. Many of these would normally cost a fair amount of money, too. Yet there’s one hack that won’t set you back much cash at all. That’s right: popping banana skin on puffy eyes is said to help clear up the ailment.

Sticking with the healthy skin theme, banana peels are also supposed to work as effective moisturizer substitutes. Traditionally, of course, you’d use a moisturizing cream to shield and hydrate your skin. Perhaps the next time you’re running low on expensive emollients, then, you could try using a banana skin as a replacement.

Another common skin complaint that banana peels can reportedly help reduce is the appearance of acne scars. Now, you’d want to see a dermatologist before embarking on any kind of treatment for these blemishes. But Healthline.com suggests that the yellow fruit’s peel is a cheap and cheerful remedy.

What else? Well, psoriasis is a condition that typically manifests with inflamed patches of itchy skin. Medicines, ointments and phototherapy are the usual treatments. Yet you could also try rubbing banana peel on psoriasis outbreaks as a stop-gap. It supposedly alleviates the desire to scratch, after all.

And one other condition that banana peels are reportedly good for is warts, says Healthline.com. Yes, it’s believed that securing a ripened banana skin to a wart for at least eight hours will help to remove the unwanted feature. Considering the variety of warts and their potential to spread, though, this is perhaps one to leave to the professionals.

Remember though, that the reported benefits of banana peel on skin health appear to be based on anecdotal research. There is, in fact, little to no scientific evidence to support these claims. Still, studies have shown that banana skins do have antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Mind you, it’s not just your skin that could apparently benefit from a bit of banana peel. The advocates for banana hacks state that your hair is another part of the body that could be boosted by the yellow fruit. That’s because people believe that the peel can be used as part of a recipe for homemade hair masks.

Again, this is based on more anecdotal than scientific evidence. Yet supporters will highlight the fact that research has shown that banana peel does indeed possess antioxidant properties. And the story goes that these antioxidants will balance out your hair, leaving it looking fit and blooming.

There are reportedly more ways to use banana peels to benefit your health as well. For the next hack, however, it’s the fruit’s antibacterial qualities that come into play. Specifically, the skin’s properties are said to fight against bacteria that could lead to gum conditions, including gingivitis. So how does it do this?

Well, it seems that those who support alternative medicines advise people to massage banana peel straight on to their gums and teeth. And, interestingly, it’s also thought that if you partake in this activity for seven days, you might notice that your teeth become whiter, too. So that could be a win-win situation.

And just as it has been suggested that banana peels could relieve the itching caused by psoriasis, so too has the fruit been put forward as an ailment to other conditions. These include rashes, bites or sunburn – the kinds of issues that result in the desire to scratch.

Relief of another kind is targeted with the next hack, though. And a slight tweak is that it actually involves frozen banana peels. That’s right: frosty banana skins could come to the rescue the next time you’re suffering from a bad headache. You see, the thinking goes that you pop one against your forehead and another on your neck. Now, is it just the freezing temperature that helps or the fruit itself or both? Who knows.

Last but not least, banana peel could be applied to help remove splinters from your skin. To do this – according to Healthline.com – you simply stick the fruit skin over the problem area for about a quarter of an hour. And after the allotted time has passed, it should theoretically be easier to pick out the offending object. Who’d have thought?

Now you see, there are plenty more suggestions for using banana skins out there besides what you’ve read here. For instance, some folks report applying it to help polish up their homes, including silverware and shoes. So, with seemingly endless possibilities for your banana peel, there should now be no reason to simply discard it.